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Florida’s Parkland Shooting & the Kent State Massacre

This may be the moment when we finally do something about the slaughter of our innocent children. Frankly, up till now, I have been skeptical, as our politicians have repeated the NRA talking points. When young children were slaughtered at Sandy Hook and we did nothing but send our prayers, I despaired. Prayers are fine, but they can be a lazy, even a cynical response, if we don’t follow-up with our actions.

The killing goes on and all we have are prayers, the laws remaining the same. After each new slaughter, we wonder if this will finally be too much. Will this bring us to our senses? And every time, up till now, the answers have been NO!

This Florida slaughter might finally change things. No single epiphany brings about change. But there are iconic moments that change both conversations and consciousness. Rosa Parks sitting down did not end racism or even segregation but it was a transformational moment. Another such moment was Sheriff Bull Connor loosing his dogs on peaceful civil rights demonstrators. Connors’ dogs and the television pictures were critical in changing white America’s conscience.

The Florida atrocity might be another such iconic event. The pain, rage and articulate activism of young people may well mark a transformational milestone. For the young people of today, this might be their Kent State.

As a relatively young person in 1970, when the National Guard shot nine and killed four college students protesting the Vietnam War, I know it changed America. It brought the war home—literally. It made us think about government, authority and state violence differently. It made it personal.

No, the Kent State Massacre didn’t end the war. But it was a turning point in the consciousness of America’s youth. Parkland Florida may stimulate the youth to counter pose themselves peacefully against the NRA and our toxic gun culture. This could be the time politicians are forced to hear something other than the standard excuses and NRA talking points.

“Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” Well, yes, that’s true but not the whole truth. “Guns don’t kill people, it’s the bullets.” True enough, but without guns we’d have to throw bullets at each other, and that would reduce their lethality significantly.

The other great tactic is to change the subject and point out that no one change of law would solve the problem. While true, this is used as an excuse to do nothing. Lot’s of changes could reduce the absurd and tragic toll of around 30,000 gun deaths per year—here in America.

So, yes, background checks and merged data-bases on criminals and people who are violent would save lives. Reducing the size of magazines would certainly help reduce mass killings. Clips could be limited to 10 cartridges. When you have a couple of 100-round magazines, you possess a potential lethality that should be, but isn’t, unimaginable.

Uzis, AK47s and AR15s are not defensive weapons. The best home defense weapon is a shotgun and not a rifle or pistol. Uzis, AK47s and AR15s are called “Assault Weapons.” There is truth in this packaging. Assault weapons are not for hunting. You fire half a clip at a flying duck and you get not dinner but paté.

Now, full disclosure: I was a member of the NRA. I’ve hunted—mostly birds—both here and when I lived in North Africa. I hunted to eat. I also have enjoyed trap shooting and skeet shooting. I am not gun-phobic. I am NRA phobic because of their absolutism, their unwillingness to save lives.

Having done some work for the police and the American Association of Chiefs of Police, I don’t want our law enforcement officers out-gunned. When the Chief’s Association asked the NRA to support a ban on civilians possessing armor-piercing ammunition, and the NRA refused, I resigned.

The NRA always argues the “slippery slope,” that if they give up anything, soon they’ll be left with nothing. This isn’t true. We banned Tommy Guns and other fully automatic weapons. You may not possess a bazooka or a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. I’m guessing that owning a nuclear weapon might also be banned. In other words, limits aren’t the same as confiscation.

Now the NRA wants to arm teachers. This is an idea bad beyond satire. I can only say that if my Elementary School music teacher had had a gun, I’d be long dead. (I tried to stay on key. Really. I wasn’t going for the laugh. Still, she screamed at me and sent me to the office) A high school teacher with a gun, will get it taken away by a high school student. “Oh, it could be locked up.” Great. I’ll try to remember the combination or find the key with the sounds of approaching gunfire. It also could be dangerous with potential crossfire between teachers and police.

“Let’s have guards.” Ok. But understand that a potential killer can just walk up and shoot the guard. A guard might deter some, but his real job description, though not in writing, is to be the first to die and thereby set off the alarms. Hard to recruit people willing to accept that deal for $15 per hour.

Let’s ask the really difficult question, the one with the paradoxically simple answer. Who perpetrates mass shootings in America? With rare exception the answer is: young, white males. Maybe we could do something to reduce their access to weapons of mass destruction. Background checks, merged data bases, smaller cartridge clips and higher age requirements would not solve all our problems. But they would certainly save lives.

Semiautomatic and automatic weapons are WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION! That is a demonstrated reality. WMD’s are illegal . Ban the weapons and arrest anyone who has one. Don’t waste your breath on discussing anything other than getting these weapons out of our civilian society.

Melissa B

We need to push back harder than the NRA. With a membership of approximately 4.5 million they have enormous clout and we need more. Who are WE? WE needs to be a membership organization so that WE are ONE and UNITED.

The Women’s March groups are sponsoring the March 24 “March for Our Lives.” In 2017, 3 million women came together in the USA (about 1.5 million in 2018). The most prominent, effective and largest organizations that support gun control by FB followers are: Everytown – 1.5 million; Giffords – 309,000; The Brady Campaign – 202,000 and The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence – 271,000. Put all those people together (even taking into account that there is probably 20-50% overlap) WE could be a big more badass group than the NRA with 2.5-5 million people united to make lasting changes in gun laws and more.

Coming together for one day is powerful. Staying united is influential. On March 24 – can all the March Groups agree on a short Call to Action and can all the Marches sign people up for membership in ONE united group so WE can stand more powerful and influential than those in the NRA.

WE do not have to be anti-gun. WE can include all people who want to own guns in a sensible manner that protects our children and ourselves. WE can include what pollsters are saying is the 74-23% of NRA members who support issues such as stricter background checks, a federal database for gun ownership, banning those on the no-fly list and those with a mental illness diagnosis from owning guns and banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines (even with only 23% support that’s 1 million NRA members ).

I am going to write to the LA, DC, NY and Chicago Women’s March Group organizers and reps from the 4 gun control groups and ask them to try to work together. I do not see any better way to effect real and lasting change than for WE to become more powerful than the NRA.

Jane

You have narrowed down the argument to what can we do. Lots. Start with universal background checks. Better databases. Lower ammo cartridges. (You forgot bump stocks). And banning the sale of assault weapons.

Gun buybacks sound good to me as well. Better ways to limit gun show sale without background checks. Times up.

Lorraine Fox

As a former classroom teacher for many years and for a few years a teacher of “emotionally disturbed children” I cannot imagine having a gun. Would it be in my unlocked desk drawer where one of the children could get at it at any time? Would I be able to save a classroom full of children against a shooter with an AR15? The suggestion of arming a classroom teacher is ludicrous. There is no need for AR15 for hunters either. Unfortunately we are unable to reach the people in congress who are beholden to the NRA for financial reasons. Our next job is to unseat those politicians who don’t care enough about schools and kids and vote the NRA way.